Searchable bookmark sets as an internet advertising medium

ABSTRACT

One or more searchable repositories of bookmark sets are stored in a computer system, each bookmark set can be downloaded to a client browser as a unit. Each bookmark set contains a set of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and is associated with related information such as a set of keywords, one or more topics and user specific information. The bookmark set is downloadable as a unit to the client browser. When a search query from a client containing a set of keywords is received, the stored bookmark sets are searched for one or more bookmark sets associated with at least one keyword matching a keyword from the search query. A list of bookmark sets which satisfy the query, i.e. are associated with matching keywords, are returned to the client browser. Responsive to a request for downloading a selected bookmark set, the selected bookmark is served to the client. The selected bookmark set is received and used by the client browser to access the set of URLs in the selected bookmark set. In one embodiment of the invention, some bookmarks within a bookmark set are designated as base bookmarks which are always served with the bookmark set.

This application is a divisional of Ser. No. 09/080,022 filed May 15,1998 currently pending.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to information retrieval in a computernetwork. More particularly, it relates to an improved method forproviding a set of bookmarks in a browser for retrieving Web pages in anInternet environment.

It is well known to couple a plurality of computer systems into anetwork of computer systems. In this way, the collective resourcesavailable within the network may be shared among users, thus allowingeach connected user to enjoy resources which would not be economicallyfeasible to provide to each user individually. With the growth of theInternet, sharing of computer resources has been brought to a much wideraudience. The Internet has become a cultural medium in today's societyfor both information and entertainment. Government agencies employInternet sites for a variety of informational purposes. For manycompanies, one or more Internet sites are an integral part of theirbusiness; these sites are frequently mentioned in the companies'television, radio and print advertising.

The World Wide Web, or simply “the Web”, is the Internet's multimediainformation retrieval system. It is the most commonly used method oftransferring data in the Internet environment. Other methods exist suchas the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Gopher, but have not achievedthe popularity of the Web. Client machines accomplish transactions toWeb servers using the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which is aknown application protocol providing users access to files, e.g., text,graphics, images, sound, video, using a standard page descriptionlanguage known as the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). HTML providesbasic document formatting and allows the developer to specify “links” toother servers and files. In the Internet paradigm, a network path to aserver is identified by a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) having aspecial syntax for defining a network connection.

Retrieval of information is generally achieved by the use of anHTML-compatible “browser”, e.g., Netscape Navigator, at a clientmachine. When the user of the browser specifies a link via a URL, theclient issues a request to a naming service to map a hostname in the URLto a particular network IP address at which the server is located. Thenaming service returns a list of one or more IP addresses that canrespond to the request. Using one of the IP addresses, the browserestablishes a connection to a server. If the server is available, itreturns a document or other object formatted according to HTML. Webbrowsers have become the primary interface for access to many networkand server services.

The entry of the URL in the entry field of a browser can be a difficulttask for many users. While the URL for the main Web page of a majorcompany can be relatively brief, e.g., www.ibm.com, subsidiary pages canhave very lengthy URLs in, at least to the average user, an arcanesyntax. Recognizing the difficulties involved, the developers ofbrowsers have provided one useful means of returning to a favorite URL,by the creation of user stored “bookmarks” in the browser.

Once created, bookmarks offer a means of page retrieval. The user cancause the browser to display his bookmark list and select among hisbookmarks to go directly to a favorite page. Thus, the user is notforced to enter a lengthy URL nor retrace the original tortuous routethrough the Internet by which he may have arrived at the Web site. Oncea bookmark is added to a bookmark list, in general, the bookmark becomesa permanent part of the browser until removed. The permanence andaccessibility of bookmarks have made them a valuable means forpersonalizing a user's Internet access through the browser.

Yet despite their usefulness, the current arrangement of bookmarks isnot without its flaws. As the numbers of web sites and web pages onthese sites have increased dramatically, so has the number of bookmarksthat a typical browser user maintains on his browser. It is not uncommonthat hundreds of bookmarks be stored in a bookmark file after a fewweeks of web browsing. While folders in some browsers have helped theuser group his bookmarks by category, in reality, the bookmark file isone huge list of bookmarks, all accessible to the user through thebrowser. The most common way of adding bookmarks to the bookmark file ora particular bookmark folder in the browser is manually intensive. Eachbookmark is added one at a time. A user visits a web site, then selectsthat site as a bookmark entry and, if desired, categorizes it manually,Furthermore, the current technology used in browsers to updatebookmarks, i.e. removing the old address and entering the new one, isvery slow and inefficient.

Another problem with retrieving information on the Internet is theamount of time required to sift through the enormous amount ofinformation available to find the relatively few web pages or files ofinterest. Search engines help to a degree, but users' respectivefacility with constructing search queries differ greatly. A substantialamount of user time is required to refine search strategies and compileand discard results and so forth. Thus, a good list of bookmarks on agiven topic can represent a significant investment in time and effort.Presuming that the topic is of interest to others as well, the list ofbookmarks is a valuable commodity which others would be interested insharing and perhaps buying.

These problems as well as others are addressed in various embodiments ofthe present invention.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, it is an object of the invention to improve the management ofbookmarks in the browser.

It is another object of the invention to provide a search mechanism forbookmark sets usable in a browser.

It is another object of the invention to subscribe to receiveautomatically updates to a selected bookmark set.

It is another object of the invention to customize a served bookmark setfor a given client browser based on machine or user provided parameters.

It is another object of the invention to provide a new electronicadvertising medium.

These and other objects are accomplished by providing one or moresearchable repositories of bookmark sets stored in a computer system,each bookmark set can be downloaded to a client browser as a unit. Eachbookmark set contains a set of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) and isassociated with related information such as a set of keywords, one ormore topics and user specific information. The bookmark set isdownloadable as a unit to the client browser.

When a search query from a client containing a set of keywords isreceived, the stored bookmark sets are searched for one or more bookmarksets associated with at least one keyword matching a keyword from thesearch query. A list of bookmark sets which satisfy the query, i.e. areassociated with matching keywords, are returned to the client browser.Responsive to a request for downloading a selected bookmark set, theselected bookmark is served to the client. The selected bookmark set isreceived and used by the client browser to access the set of URLs in theselected bookmark set.

The invention can be used for Internet advertising. In this embodiment,each of the plurality of bookmark sets includes a set of informationbookmark pointing to web pages on a related topic and one or moreadvertising bookmarks pointing to one or more service provider webpages. The advertising bookmarks can be designated as variable bookmarksallowing a fee based inclusion of different advertisers with the sameset of base bookmarks. For example, an advertiser may be interested ininclusion in bookmark sets served to clients in a specific geographicregion or income level.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These objects, features and advantages will be more readily understoodwith reference to the attached figures and following description.

FIG. 1 depicts a computer system configured according to the teachingsof the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts the processing of an HTTP request in the Internetenvironment.

FIG. 3 shows a diagram of the overall process for searching and servingbookmarks in a distributed database environment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of registering a bookmark set with a bookmarkset server.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of retrieving a bookmark set from the bookmarkset server.

FIG. 6 shows a user interface to register a bookmark set with associatedcategories and keywords.

FIG. 7 shows a user interface for searching for a bookmark set.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram for creating a bookmark set.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be run on a variety of computers or collection ofcomputers under a number of different operating systems. The computercould be, for example, a personal computer, a mini computer, mainframecomputer or a computer running in a distributed network of othercomputers. Although the specific choice of computer is limited only byprocessor speed and disk storage requirements, computers in the IBM PCseries of computers could be used in the present invention. Oneoperating system which an IBM personal computer may run is IBM's OS/2Warp 4.0. In the alternative, the computer system might be in the IBMRISC System/600 (TM) line of computers which run on the AIX (TM)operating system.

In FIG. 1, a computer 10, comprising a system unit 11, a keyboard 12, amouse 13 and a display 14 are depicted in block diagram form. The systemunit 11 includes a system bus of plurality of system buses 21 to whichvarious components are coupled and by which communication between thevarious components is accomplished. The microprocessor 22 is connectedto the system bus 21 and is supported by read only memory (ROM) 23 andrandom access memory (RAM) 24 also connected to system bus 21. Amicroprocessor in the IBM PC series of computers is one of the Intelfamily of microprocessors including the 386, 486 or Pentiummicroprocessors. However, other microprocessors including but notlimited to, Motorola's family of mircroprocessors such as the 68000,68020 or the 68030 microprocessors and various Reduced Instruction SetComputer (RISC) microprocessors such as the PowerPC ship manufactured byIBM. Other RISC chips made by Hewlett Packard, Sun, Motorola and othersmay be used in the specific computer.

The ROM 23 contains among other code the Basic Input-Output system(BIOS) which controls basic hardware operations such as the interactionof the processor and the disk drives and the keyboard. The RAM 24 is themain memory into which the operating system and application programs areloaded. The memory management chip 25 is connected to the system bus 21and controls direct memory access operations including, passing databetween the RAM 24 and hard disk drive 26 and floppy disk drive 27. TheCD ROM 32 also coupled to the system bus 21 is used to store a largeamount of data, e.g., a multimedia program or presentation.

Also connected to this system bus 21 are various I/O controllers: Thekeyboard controller 28, the mouse controller 29, the video controller30, and the audio controller 31. As might be expected, the keyboardcontroller 28 provides the hardware interface for the keyboard 12, themouse controller 29 provides the hardware interface for mouse 13, thevideo controller 30 is the hardware interface for the display 14, andthe audio controller 31 is the hardware interface for the speakers 15.An I/O controller 40 such as a Token Ring Adapter enables communicationover a network 46 to other similarly configured data processing systems.

One of the preferred implementations of the invention is as sets ofinstructions 48-52 resident in the random access memory 24 of one ormore computer systems configured generally as described above. Untilrequired by the computer system, the set of instructions may be storedin another computer readable memory, for example, in the hard disk drive26, or in a removable memory such as an optical disk for eventual use inthe CD-ROM 32 or in a floppy disk for eventual use in the floppy diskdrive 27. Further, the set of instructions can be stored in the memoryof another computer and transmitted over a local area network or a widearea network such as the Internet when desired by the user. One skilledin the art would appreciate that the physical storage of the sets ofinstructions physically changes the medium upon which it is storedelectrically, magnetically, or chemically so that the medium carriescomputer readable information. While it is convenient to describe theinvention in terms of instructions, symbols, characters, or the like,the reader should remember that all of these and similar terms should beassociated with the appropriate physical elements.

Further, the invention is often described in terms that could beassociated with a human operator. While the operations performed may bein response to user input, no action by a human operator is desirable inany of the operations described herein from which form part of thepresent invention; the operations are machine operations processingelectrical signals to generate other electrical signals.

A web browser is a program that allows viewing the content of theInternet. A well known web browser is Netscape Navigator, however, manybrowsers exist. Some are general purpose and have many capabilities toprovide a variety of functions. Other are less capable and are specialpurpose. In general, a web browser is a program which is capable ofparsing and presenting a document written in HTML, although thoseskilled in the art would appreciate that other markup languages such asdynamic HTML and XML will be used in the browsers of the future.

The idea of creating “bookmark sets” has been proposed by the inventorsin copending, commonly assigned application, Ser. No. 08/977,634,entitled “Web Browser Download of Bookmark Set”, by Azua et al. filedNov. 11, 1997, which is hereby incorporated by reference. In thereferenced application, a bookmark set is associated with a web serverand/or web page and downloaded to a client browser by either a push orpull operation. In some embodiments of the referenced application, thebookmark set is associated with a given web page which has already beenlocated by the user. In other embodiments, a network administratorpushes a bookmark set as a means of controlling or guiding a set ofclient browsers.

In the present invention, the browser must also be equipped with abookmark set manager, a software module which handles bookmark sets.Each bookmark set is comprised of referents, typically URLs, to variouslocations in the Internet as well as text descriptions of the locations.The bookmark manager is preferably part of the browser itself, but couldbe installed in the browser as a plug-in or Java applet. Each bookmarkentry is comprised of a URL to a web page and an associated descriptivetext string which describes the web page in such a way to be easilyrecognized by the user. The descriptive text can be entered by the userwhen creating the bookmark set. The typical browser default, when theuser does not enter any descriptive text, is to use the text within anembedded “title” tag which is often sent as part of the HTML header.Other information such as pointers to cached copies of the web page canbe included in the bookmark entry.

By means of background, in the Internet, a Web server accepts a clientrequest and returns a response back to the client. A series of servercomputers may be involved in the retrieval of a specific web page. Theoperation of the server program is governed by a number of serverapplication functions (SAFs), each of which is configured to execute ina certain stop of a sequence. This sequence, illustrated in FIG. 2,begins with the authorization translation step 75 during which the webserver translates any authorization information sent by the web clientinto a user and a group. If necessary, the step 75 may decode a messageto get the actual client request. At the name translation step 77, theURL associated with the request may or may not be translated into asystem-dependent file name, a redirection URL or a mirror site. In thepath checks step 79, the server performs various tests on the resultingpath to ensure that the given client may retrieve the document.

In step 81, Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension (MIME) typeinformation, e.g., text/html, image/gif, for the given document isrecognized. In the service step 83, the web server routine selects aninternal server function to send the retrieved information back to therequesting web client. This function can run the normal server serviceroutine to return a file or some other server function, such as aprogram to return a custom document or a CGI program. At the Add Logstep 85, information about the transaction is recorded.

A URL or “Uniform Resource Locator” is defined in RFC 1945, which isincorporated herein by reference. As is well known, the URL is typicallyof the format: http://somehost/somedirectory?parameters . . . ” where“somehost” is the hostname position of the URL, “somedirectory” is adirectory in which the web page may be found. The usual manner in whicha URL is resolved into an actual IP address for a web server is throughthe use of a nameserver. In an internet or intranet network, anameserver maps hostnames in URLs to actual network addresses. Anexample of a nameserver is the Domain Name Service (DNS) currentlyimplemented in the Internet. The process of having a Web client requesta hostname into a list of one or more IP addresses which are returned tothe Web client on an HTTP request. Each IP address identifies a serverwhich hosts the requested content made by the browser.

In one preferred embodiment, a bookmark set is an entity which hasattributes of its own, e.g., active vs. inactive, and manages attributesand behavior, e.g., dynamic vs. static, of its individual bookmarks.Further, an action such as selection, deletion or e-mail transmissioncan be accomplished for the entire set in a single operation by theuser. A bookmark set could be designated active in many ways. Forexample, a bookmark set can be activated through a browser configurationoption. The browser can be configured so that a newly served bookmarkset automatically becomes the active bookmark set in the browser.Alternatively, a “Select active bookmark set” option in a bookmarkpulldown can used to specify the unique bookmark set that is active atany one session.

As described below, the invention allows a bookmark set creator tocreate specific and unique bookmark sets for each of a plurality oftopics or tasks for which he expects others will use their browser. Byaccumulating information, i.e. URLs, which others consider useful, he isable to disseminate or charge others for disseminating other advertisinglike information.

The overall process is depicted in FIG. 3. In this particularembodiment, the bookmark set is created at workstation 301 and uploaded303 to the bookmark set server 305. Creation of the bookmark sets couldbe performed on the same machine, however, this figure allows discussionof several more probable embodiments of the invention.

In one embodiment of the invention, the bookmark set server 305 is ownedby one organization which charges a fee to other organizations to postand serve their bookmark sets. In this case, workstation 301 belongs tocompany A which creates and uploads the bookmark set. In a secondembodiment of the invention, the organization which owns the bookmarkset server 305 also creates the bookmark sets. Workstation 301 wouldsimply be the personal machine of the bookmark set creator within theorganization. In the second embodiment, fees could be collected for theinclusion of a URL in a given bookmark set. The second embodiment allowsfor better quality control of the bookmark sets which in turn increasesthe likelihood of a widespread recognition of the value of the bookmarkset as an advertising medium.

Once the bookmark server 305 is connected to the Internet, or othernetwork, clients 307 can search 309 and download 311 bookmark sets fromthe server 305. The actual search could be conducted from a generalpurpose search facility such as www.yahoo.com wherein a “bookmark set”category is selected and one or more search terms are entered in asearch field. Alternatively, a specialized search page served by thebookmark set server could be used to submit the customer's search. Ingeneral, the search criteria will include one or more keywords, possiblya category of bookmark sets as well as a client identifier. The clientidentifier can include in addition to the client's machine address,credentials such as authentication and account information. Therefore,in one embodiment of the invention, only authorized or paying clientsare allowed access to all or selected bookmark sets. Further, as isdescribed below, the client information can be used to modify theselected bookmark set composition.

Several bookmark sets may satisfy the client's search criteria. Uponselection by the client of one or more of the bookmark sets whichsatisfy the search criteria, the bookmark sets are downloaded 311 andintegrated into the bookmark set manager of the browser. Preferably, anewly downloaded bookmark set is made active or accessible by thebrowser and the user can use the bookmark set to access the includedURLs.

FIG. 4 depicts the registration of a bookmark set with the bookmark setserver in greater detail. Step 401 depicts the creation of the bookmarkset. Although depicted as a single step, it may actually represent agreat deal of research activity for available web pages and possibly thecreation of web pages and placing a web server in operation. Thebookmark set itself primarily contains the URLs to a selected set of webpages. Generally, each bookmark is associated with the descriptive textso that a user can understand the general content of the page withoutactually retrieving the page. Other information such as keywords or anabstract could be included in the bookmark set entry of the presentinvention. The entry of the bookmark set data could be accomplishedmanually in a FTP form. Alternatively, editing tools to generatebookmark sets can be developed.

A sample bookmark set for “patent law” or “patent lawyer” follows:

www.iplaw.com Intellectual Property Law www.iplaw.com/pat/index/htmlPatent page www.iplaw.com/copy/index/html Copyright pagewww.iplaw.com/mark/index/html Trademark page www.uspto.gov U.S. PatentOffice cweb.loc.gov Copyright Office www.smartrwe.com Law firm

The majority of the bookmark set includes URLs to useful articles andlinks to Intellectual Property sites. An “advertising” bookmark,www.smartrwe.com, for a law firm providing intellectual propertyservices is also included in the bookmark set.

In step 403, the bookmark set creator has requested the bookmark setregistration page from the bookmark set server. This registration pageis typically written in HTML and is downloaded and presented by thelocal browser. Those skilled in the art would appreciate that theregistration page is merely an illustrative method of registering thebookmark set with the server and that other methods such as filetransfer are possible. The URL and associated information is entered inthe registration page by the bookmark set creator. Also, in step 405, amain industry or grouping is selected, e.g., banking, health, sports, todifferentiate the bookmark set from others. In step 407, the keywordsselected by the bookmark set creator are entered in the registrationpage. These are the keywords which if entered by a requesting client assearch criteria should result in the bookmark set being returned to therequesting client's browser.

In step 409, the registration page is uploaded to the bookmark server.At this point, the server may run several tests 411 on the registrationpage and included bookmark set. Tests that the information is enteredcorrectly and that the URLs listed point to active web pages areconducted. The server may have policies against serving certain sites ortypes of material, e.g., pornographic. If so, tests are conducted toassure that none of the bookmarks lead to such items. Too manyadvertisements may dilute the value of the bookmark set. The tests mayalso include verification that the best keywords and categories havebeen chosen by the bookmark set creator as the bookmark set server hasan interest in the quality of the bookmark set to be retrieved in anunrelated search are candidates for deletion. Parsing abstracts or theweb pages to which the URLs point for words which occur frequently inthe web pages, but are relatively infrequently used in the language ofthe web pages, could be performed to nominate other keywords. The set ofkeywords to be deleted or added would be transmitted to the bookmark setcreator for approval. Finally, tests to determine authorization andaccount information to determine that the bookmark creator is authorizedto post bookmark sets and has made the necessary financial arrangementswould be performed.

Once the server is satisfied that the bookmark set and bookmark setcreator meet the desired criteria, in step 413, the bookmark set servermakes the new bookmark set avialable to potential customers. Postingadds the bookmark set to a database organized for future searching.These operations are well known to the art.

One exemplary search process is depicted in FIG. 5. The depicted processdoes not include any dialog for authorization or account informationfrom the client. However, as shown in FIG. 2, in alternative embodimentsof the invention such interchanges can occur. In step 501, the clientbrowser connects to the search server and downloads the search page. Asmentioned above, the search page may be from a general purpose searchengine, e.g., www.yahoo.com, with a bookmark set category or may be asearch page from the bookmark set server itself. Presuming the latter,in step 503, the selected main industry or group is entered. This stepis optional. In step 505, the keywords which form the basis of thesearch criteria are entered. In step 507, an HTTP message with thekeywords and category are sent to the search engine. In step 509, thesearch engine in the bookmark server constructs an SQL search query andsends the search query to the database which contains the bookmark setinformation. In step 511, a list of the bookmark sets which match thesearch criteria is compiled and sent to the client browser in an HTMLpage. In step 513, the selection of a bookmark set is detected and sentback to the server.

Although not shown, the invention also may include the compilation ofcustomization information as part of the selection process, resulting ina customized bookmark set. For example, user profile information couldbe collected as part of starting an account, authorization orsubscription process. Given the client identifier, such information canbe correlated to the current bookmark set search. Alternatively, thegeographic locale of the client browser can be detected through the IPaddress. Depending on the user profile or locale information collectedin this manner, a different set of advertiser bookmarks can be includedin the ultimately served bookmark set. Thus, the selected bookmark setcan comprise a base set of informational bookmarks and a variable set ofadvertiser bookmarks. If locale or other customization informationassociated with a special set of advertiser bookmarks is not detected, adefault set of advertiser bookmarks is used. In other embodiments of theinvention, the substituted set of bookmarks may not be advertiserbookmarks, but some other type of bookmarks. In step 515, the selectedbookmark set is downloaded to the client system and integrated into thebrowser.

One sample registration page by which a bookmark set creator couldregister his bookmark set is depicted in FIG. 6. A set of categories 601is selected by manipulation of the mouse pointer and buttons.Alternative controls such as check boxes are known to the art. A field603 for entry of keywords is provided. A field 604 for the entry of atitle or brief summary of the bookmark set is provided. The title orsummary would be presented in the page of bookmark sets which meet theclient's search criteria. Fields 605 and 607 are provided for entry ofthe URLs and descriptive text for the bookmark entries themselves. Inthe figure, scroll bars are depicted for the entry of more bookmarksthan can be accomodated in the limited display space. Alternatively, asecond page with individually defined entry fields can be used for entryof the bookmark set information.

Once all the information is entered, a push button 609 is activated tosend the completed page to the bookmark set server for registration.

FIG. 7 shows a simple interface for a web page for conducting a bookmarkset search. In this example, a set of categories 701 can be selected andkeywords entered in an entry field 703. Of course, as is well known tothose skilled in the art, much more complicated search statements can beconstructed using a plurality of search words and Boolean operators.More complicated search criteria can be accomodated in alternativeembodiments of the invention by using a page with multiple entry fieldsand/or pulldowns.

A method, alternative to the registration page method above, of creatinga bookmark set according to the invention is shown in FIG. 8. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize that other steps in other userinterfaces may be used to assemble a bookmark set. In step 801, thebookmark manager or editor is activated in response to user selection ofthe create bookmark set item. In step 803, a creation routine for thebookmark set is initiated. Since altering a bookmark set may have afinancial impact on the organization, bookmark set creation andmodification may be password protected. In step 805, the user isprompted for a password. Step 807 tests whether the password was enteredsuccessfully. If not entered successfully within the number of attemptsallowed by a security protocol, the process ends, step 809. At thispoint, other actions such as browser lockup, disconnect from the networkas well as various alarms are possible.

Presuming the user successfully enters a password, in step 811, a newbookmark file is allocated for the new bookmark set. At the time of thecreation of the bookmark set, the user is prompted for a name and a setof keywords for the bookmark set, step 813. Next, the user can specify aURL, i.e. bookmark, that belongs to the set, step 115. A text descriptorfor each bookmark is also added in this step. An indicator that thebookmark is a variable bookmark, e.g., an “advertiser bookmark”, isuseful for easy substitution of new advertisers for subsequent versionsof the bookmark set. If user profile or locale specific information iused to determine which variable bookmark is served to a client browser,this information is associated with a particular bookmark set. Thesystem tests each bookmark set for a bookmark set name and at least oneURL in the bookmark set, step 817. If not, the user is prompted thatthere is not enough information to create a bookmark set, step 819, andgiven an opportunity to provide the missing information. In step 821,the user is asked whether there is another bookmark to add to the set.If so, the process returns to step 815.

The user is queried whether the bookmark set is to be passwordprotected, in step 823. The user is prompted for the password whichbecomes part of the bookmark set, step 825. Step 827 represents thecreation of the bookmark set and its submission to the bookmark setserver as a searchable bookmark set. Once created, the clients with theappropriate authorization can retrieve the bookmark set from the server.

From a user interface standpoint, it is a single step process to add abook mark set in an easy, automatic and painless way. A special tag orMIME type can identify the nature of the file, i.e. a bookmark set, tobe transferred. The bookmark set manager in the browser uses these tagsor MIME types to add the bookmark set to the browser's collection ofbookmarks.

in one preferred embodiment, upon receipt of the new bookmark set, thebookmark set manager makes the new set the active bookmark set and thusrenders the included URLs available for browser use immediately.

One feature of the invention allows the user to assign an attribute tothe newly served bookmark set. At download, a dialog box is presented,asking the user if the bookmark set is to be a temporary or permanentbookmark set. A temporary bookmark set is a good choice for a searchwhich will not last beyond the current session. If a permanent bookmarkset is chosen, the bookmark set becomes a permanent part of the browser(until deleted). Next, another dialog box is presented, asking the userif he wants to subscribe to the bookmark set for updates.

In the preferred embodiment, a bookmark set is detected by the browserby parsing the HTML returned by the server for a unique tag. That is,the bookmark set is specified through a unique MIME type, e.g.,x-bookmark-set, that is added to the browser's bookmark options. Forexample, the HTML for adding a bookmark set for a computer manufacturerwould look like: Content_type: text/Bookmark set<line feed><linefeed><HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GM Bookmark sets</TITLE></HEAD>

While many industries that can benefit from aggregating web basedinformation as prepackaged URLs, i.e. as bookmark sets, which areretrievable based on predetermined search criteria, a few examples aregiven below.

For example, a research institution or company can benefit frompre-packaging book information by “topics” or “authors” on sets of URLs,i.e. bookmark sets, that can direct the user to the electronic review ofthe selected subject. A student performing research on Shakespeare wouldbe able to search for a bookmark set on Shakespeare, probably one ofmany, and download the selected bookmark set to his/her computer toreview a selected set of “most important” URLs related to Shakespeare.As mentioned above, using today's available search technology,independently repeating this research takes a considerable amount oftime to collect meaningful URLs.

Another application of the invention would be for a hospital or doctorto advertise their services. Bookmark sets on “cancer”, “breast cancer”,“heart disease” and so forth would include bookmarks to web pagescontaining articles on such topics. In addition, these bookmark setswould contain bookmarks to a hospital or doctor offering services forthese conditions. The better the set of articles, the more likely apatient would be inclined to contact the doctor or hospital included inthe bookmark set. Thus, there exists a potential market for bookmark setproviders, either to provide a bookmark set to the hospital on a onetime fee basis or as an ongoing fee as an advertisement.

Yet another application would be an online travel site. With the inputof a destination keyword, e.g., Orlando, the client browser could beserved a bookmark set complete with URLs to hotel and restaurant guidesfor the area, vacation club materials, weather reports and a web pagecustomized for the client.

A bookmark serving site known for the quality of its bookmark sets couldcommand a premium fee for sole inclusion in a given bookmark set. Asdiscussed above, the advertising bookmarks could vary by region, thusallowing for multiple fee arrangements with different advertisers. Basedon the origin of the client browser request, or according to thegeographic region input by the user, different hospitals' or doctors'URLs can be inserted into the same basic set of informational bookmarks.

Another potential opportunity for payment is the invention's ability toset a subscription attribute for a bookmark set. This allows the user toperiodically update the information in his browser. A bookmark listwhich is updated monthly can have a different set of “advertisers”, i.e.bookmarks to paying web sites. Presuming that the content, the list ofURLs, is kept valuable and current, users will subscribe.

While the invention has been shown and described with reference toparticular embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that the invention can be practiced, with modification, inother environments. For example, although the invention described abovecan be conveniently implemented in a general purpose computerselectively reconfigured or activated by software, those skilled in theart would recognize that the invention could be carried out in hardware,in firmware or in any combination of software, firmware or hardwareincluding a special purpose apparatus specifically designed to performthe described invention. Therefore, changes in form and detail may bemade therein without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

We claim:
 1. An Internet advertising medium comprising: a searchablebookmark set stored at a web server coupled to the Internet, thebookmark set including both a set of informational bookmarks pointing toweb pages on a related topic and one or more advertising bookmarkspointing to one or more service provider web pages; wherein the bookmarkset is sent to a requesting client via the Internet, if a search requestby the client containing one or more keywords is satisfied by thebookmark set; and wherein the bookmark set is installed in a clientbrowser upon receipt for retrieving the service provider andinformational web pages.
 2. A system for Internet advertising includingprocessor, memory and network connector for providing bookmark sets to abrowser in a computer system comprising: means for storing a pluralityof bookmark sets at a first computer system coupled to a network, eachbookmark set containing a set of Uniform Resource Locators (URLs),searchable by a set of keywords and downloadable as a unit, wherein eachbookmark set includes both a set of informational bookmarks pointing toweb pages on a related topic and one or more advertising bookmarkspointing to one or more service provider web pages; means for detectinga client query containing a set of keywords; and means responsive to thefinding a bookmark set which satisfies the keywords for serving thebookmark set via the network to a second computer system forinstallation in a client browser to access the set of URLs.
 3. Thesystem as recited in claim 2 further comprising means for registeringthe bookmark sets at the first computer system.
 4. The system as recitedin claim 3 wherein the plurality of bookmark sets are stored at andserved from a first web server belonging to a first party and furthercomprises: means for establishing an account representing a givenmonetary value for a second party; means for receiving a request toregister and store a new bookmark set at the first web server from aremote device belonging to the second party; and means for debiting theaccount for a given charge for storing and serving the new bookmark set.5. The system as recited in claim 3 wherein the plurality of bookmarksets are stored at and served from a first web server belonging to afirst party and further comprises: means for establishing an accountrepresenting a given monetary value for a second party; means forincluding an advertising bookmark from the second party in the firstbookmark set at the first web server; and means for debiting the accountfor a given charge for inclusion for storing and serving the advertisingbookmark with the first bookmark set.
 6. A method for Internetadvertising comprising the steps of: storing a plurality of bookmarksets at a server coupled to the Internet, each bookmark set includingboth a set of information bookmarks pointing to informational web pageson a related topic and one or more advertising bookmarks pointing to oneor more service provider web pages; receiving a client query containingone or more keywords suggestive of a selected topic at a server;responsive to the client query, serving a bookmark set on the selectedtopic to a requesting client; and wherein the bookmark set isinstallable at a client browser for retrieving both the service providerweb pages and informational web pages.
 7. The method as recited in claim6 further comprising the steps of: registering the bookmark sets at theserver; and associating each of the registered bookmark sets with one ormore topics.
 8. The method as recited in claim 7 wherein the registeringstep includes a test to determine whether each bookmark set meets apredetermined criteria.
 9. The method as recited in claim 6 wherein theplurality of bookmark sets are stored at and served from a first webserver belonging to a first party and the method further comprises thesteps of: establishing an account representing a given monetary valuefor a second party; receiving a request to register and store a newbookmark set at the first web server from a remote device belonging tothe second party; registering and storing the new bookmark set at thefirst web server; and debiting the account for a given charge forstoring and serving the new bookmark set.
 10. The method as recited inclaim 6 wherein the plurality of bookmark sets are stored at and servedfrom a first web server belonging to a first party and the methodfurther comprises the steps of: establishing an account representing agiven monetary value for a second party; receiving a request toincorporate an advertising bookmark in a first bookmark set on a giventopic at the first web server; including the advertising bookmark in thefirst bookmark set at the first web server; and debiting the account fora given charge for inclusion for storing and serving the advertisingbookmark with the first bookmark set.
 11. A computer program product ina computer readable medium for Internet advertising comprising: meansfor storing and organizing a plurality of bookmark sets according torespective sets of associated keywords at a web server coupled to theInternet, each bookmark set including a set of information bookmarkspointing to informational web pages on a related topic and one or moreadvertising bookmarks pointing to one or more service provider webpages; means for receiving a client search query for a bookmark setincluding a set of keywords; means for searching the associated keywordsfor one or more bookmark sets which satisfy the client search query; andmeans for serving one or more bookmark sets to a client device fromwhich the client search query originated; wherein the served bookmarksets are installable in a client browser for retrieving the serviceprovider and informational web pages.
 12. The product as recited inclaim 11 further comprising: means for registering the bookmark sets atthe server; and means for associating each of the registered bookmarksets with one or more topics.
 13. The product as recited in claim 12wherein the registering means determines whether a party attempting toregister a bookmark set at the server meets a predetermined criteria.14. The product as recited in claim 11 which further comprises: meansfor establishing an account representing a given monetary value for afirst party; means for receiving a request to register and store a newbookmark set at the server from a remote device belonging to the firstparty; and means for debiting the account for a given charge for storingand servicing the new bookmark set.
 15. The product as recited in claim11 which further comprises: means for establishing an accountrepresenting a given monetary value for a first party; means forincluding an advertising bookmark from the first party in a firstbookmark set at the first web server; and means for debiting the accountfor a given charge for inclusion for storing and serving the advertisingbookmark with the first bookmark set.